Bandung sculptor wins statue design competition

Bandung sculptor wins statue design competition

JAKARTA (JP): A board of jurists has declared Bandung sculptor
Ketut Winata the winner of a design competition for a statue of
national hero Muhammad Husni Thamrin.

Ketut presented the statue design, which was drafted through a
collaboration with three others, to Governor Sutiyoso at City
Hall on Thursday.

The three assistants were architect Tine Abrianti Susilo,
landscape architect Firmansam Bastaman and civil engineer Sigit
Purwono.

"The statue will be made from about 1,850 kilograms of
stainless steel and copper, and welded with brass joints. It will
take about four and a half months to construct," he told The
Jakarta Post, admitting that he had not calculated the cost yet.

"My team only had one month to prepare the design, so we
didn't have enough time to calculate the budget," he added.

The statue is to be placed on the street median of Jl. M.H.
Thamrin facing the Bank Indonesia traffic circle in Central
Jakarta. But it has been decided to find another more suitable
site to erect it.

The statue will be eight meters high and will stand on a
three-meter base, for a total of 11 meters in height. The base
will have 43 segments which will symbolize the year 1943 when
Thamrin died.

In the proposal, there will be a pond 10 meters long, which is
followed by a garden 16 meters long. The total length of 26
meters symbolizes the year 1926 when the Dutch colonial
administration officiated the Banjir Kanal river canal, which
divides the capital into two parts.

Establishing the river canal was one of Thamrin's ideas of
improving the lives of the Betawi (native Jakartans).

Thamrin was a member of the Volksraad (a representative body
during the Dutch colonial period). He was known as Macan
Volksraad (the tiger of the Volksraad), because of his
consistency in defending his countrymen.

He was also the founder of the Voetbalbond Indonesische
Jacatra, which then changed its name to Persija in 1950.

One of the competition's jurists, Agus Asmanuddin of the Bamus
Betawi (Betawi Consultative Board), praised the design as a new
genre of statues dedicated to national heroes.

"This design doesn't use the traditional heroic posture, which
always has a weapon. Instead, it emphasizes the intellectual
struggle of Husni, also known as Bang Ni, as a leader with
brilliant concepts and ideas to benefit his countrymen," he told
reporters.

City spokesman Muhayat told reporters that city administration
would not finance the statue's construction.

"Instead, we will invite interested sponsors to construct the
statue. This way, it won't be a burden to the city budget," he
said.

The presentation of erecting statues to honor national heroes
was the second of its kind. Earlier last month, the family of
late Gen. Soedirman agreed to finance the general's statue for
about Rp 3 billion (US$400,000).

Soedirman was the founder of the Indonesian Military (TNI). He
led a guerrilla warfare resistance against the Dutch colonials
from 1945 to 1949. (nvn)